Joe knows they don’t grow on trees

This quote from Joe still speaks volumes.

You are hearing buzz that the Jets might give it another whirl with Sam Darnold this year, thinking perhaps that the team’s new offensive coordinator, who will come from San Francisco, can get more out of him, in the QB-friendly Kyle Shanahan offense.

Another reason the Jets might keep Sam Darnold around, at least for another year, is it won’t cost them a lot. He will be in the fourth year of his rookie contract, and they probably won’t pick up the fifth-year option. So it will be a one-year test drive for the new coaching staff with no future strings attached. And by keeping him around, that doesn’t mean they are committed to him for the entire season, if things aren’t going well.

But there is another factor at play here, and it goes back to something Joe Douglas said during a mid-season presser last season, in a response to a question from Andy Vasquez.

Andy Vasquez, The Record: If Darnold does have the kind of talent you think he does, quarterbacks are supposed to be able to kind of overcome some of these situations, maybe not having the guys on the offensive line or the weapons, but offensively, you guys just aren’t anywhere near any other team in the league. How do you kind of resolve that?

“Yeah, I think the quarterbacks that can overcome poor offensive lines and poor skill guys or those positions that aren’t playing up to par, I think there’s maybe very few of those type of players,” said Douglas.

This answer speaks volumes of about the state of the QB position in the NFL. There are so few elite, franchise quarterbacks who are not only masters at reading defenses, but also having the ability to put a team on their backs, and overcome shortcomings on the team.

Who are they are this point? Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees (without 12 broken ribs), Russell Wilson, Patrick Mahomes? Who else are we really talking about. Obviously there are some other talented quarterbacks aside from the aforementioned five, but they aren’t necessarily “put the team on their back” quarterbacks.

So I think what Douglas was saying with that quote is that Rodgers and Brady types don’t grow on trees, so most other teams need to deal with that reality, and find a serviceable QB, who with the proper support, like a good offensive line, receivers, running game, play-calling, defense and so forth, they can perhaps win games with.

Shanahan was able to win a lot of games with Jimmy Garoppolo, who is very good, but not elite, and the Shanahan-system that the Jets new OC will bring, helped Jimmy G have success, including quarterbacking a team that went to a Super Bowl.

“Shanahan’s system, the stretch bootleg system, you create a lot of easy opportunities for the quarterback,” said former NFL scout Bucky Brooks of NFL Network. “You just need to be mobile enough to get to the edge of the tackle box on the bootleg. If you can do that, you can play in this system, and with all the play-action, they make it easy.”

So the Jets are probably banking on that system helping Darnold play better.

And their GM also knows the true elite “carry the team” quarterbacks are few and far between, so most other teams need to make due with a tier below that.

January 18, 2021

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